The Last Night
by Kisara-Rini
Summary: Asch-convinced he isn't coming back alive-spends the night before the infiltration of Eldrant with a certain pilot. Asch/Ginji One-shot yaoi, slash


A/N: Because there needs to be more Asch/Ginji. Need I say more?

Warnings: Yaoi, slash, male/male love—whatever you want to call it. So if that's not your thing, then you probably shouldn't read anymore.

Disclaimer: Tales of the Abyss and its characters do not belong to me. I just like to play with them ; ) I make no profit from that.

~O~

The Last Night

We were set for Eldrant the next morning. Both Kimlasca and Malkuth were on board with the assault on the floating fortress. This would be the final stand, and my last chance to act. Assuming I lived through it.

I let out a sigh and glanced over at Noir. She winked at me and gave me a wide smile. I continued to stare at her, deadpanned. "Anything on your mind, dear?"  
"No," I muttered, and looked away from her to gaze out the windows of the Albiore III.

"Let me guess," she continued, "is it that cute replica of yours?" I tried to restrain a growl in my throat. "Or perhaps it's that darling little princess?" I refused to acknowledge her or react further. "Oh my, you're normally much more talkative than this, Asch!"

"Ugh," I folded my arms, still ignoring her.

"He's got a lot on his mind, no doubt," Ginji suggested, his voice somewhat hushed. "Probably too much to really vocalize." He glanced over his shoulder to give me a small smile. My eyes found his, my lips twitching into a fleeting smile in return, before looking away from him.

"Still, it's a bit unusual for the boss," Urushi piped up, "he whines about everything."

"Shh," York elbowed him, noticing I was looking at them and glaring.

"Ow," Urushi found my stare, "oops, sorry boss."

I rolled my eyes. "Whatever. Are we close, Ginji?"

"Mhm," he nodded his head, continuing to face forward and pilot us towards the dry desert of a continent Noir made her home on.

I frowned, a little suspicious that we were flying slower than usual. Ginji normally got us to our destinations much more quickly than this. Although, if I had to stop and think about it…there was no point to rush. We couldn't do anything until tomorrow anyway.

"Closing in on Nam Cobanda Isle," our pilot announced, his tone strangely cheerful.

"Home again," Noir said to no one in particular. "Asch," she attempted to get my attention, "it's not necessary to leave us out of—"

"There's no point in you three dying. That would be unnecessary." The Dark Wings were the closest things I had to friends. If I could spare them from something, I was going to do it.

"Guess you drew the short straw, Ginji," Urushi called to him as he began to land the Albiore.

"That's alright," he flashed a smile back to us, "I don't mind."

"If I could fly this thing myself, I would," I muttered, "so he's only coming because his life is more valuable than yours." I didn't notice Noir wink at Ginji, who blushed and looked away from her.

We all got up from our seats once Ginji had set the Albiore down. Noir placed a hand on my arm, stopping me from following York and Urushi. Ginji lingered back, watching our exchange. "Asch, you could always stay here with us. Really, you could leave Eldrant to Luke and his troupe—"

"No way," I jerked my arm away from her. "And trust the damn replica with killing Van? I don't think so."

"Well," she shrugged, "it was worth a shot. But if your mind's made up—"

"It is," I stated firmly. I couldn't sit back and let _him_ finish this. We still had a matter we needed to settle. And if I was going to be finished, I wanted to go down fighting. I clenched my hand into a fist, feeling the strength inside me just that much weaker than the day before. I was running out of time. My recent talk with Spinoza in Belkend had confirmed my own theory…I was already dying. And there was no stopping it. If I could have, I'd have already been on Eldrant fighting. But that wasn't up to me.

"You two are welcome to stay here for the night, unless you have better plans." Noir looked between the two of us, grinning for some reason.

"I'm sure Ginji wants to go home to Sheridan before we-"

"No," he shook his head, "Noelle won't be there. And besides, it would feel like I was saying goodbye. And I have faith that Asch will get us through tomorrow so that no one will have to say goodbye." Ginji looked at me, smiling shyly as he did so. Of course, he always seemed shy around me.

"You'll survive," I stared him down, and Ginji blinked a little at me as I did so, "just get me in there, and you can get yourself out."

"What? Who'll get _you_ out once it's over?" His smile faltered, and a confused frown replaced it.

Noir grabbed both of us by an arm and began to lead us out of the Albiore. Ginji's eyes widened, startled by her. I tried, with little effort, to pull away from her. But I had no energy to, and gave up the attempt. "Come on, boys. Let's worry about tomorrow, tomorrow. And Ginji, I'm sure Asch only means well and wants you to be safe. He'd fly out with Noelle."

"If my sister's going to wait for Luke, I'm waiting for Asch."

"You shouldn't," I muttered under my breath. I'm pretty sure Noir heard me though.

"And unless you two have anywhere else you need to be, you're going to stay here with us and have a nice, hearty meal tonight."

"There you are, Noir," York was waiting at the entrance of the hideout for us. "You sure took your time."

"Asch started talking," Noir winked at me again. Ginji laughed lightly, and I rolled my eyes.

"Ah, that explains it. Well, Asch," he turned to me, "you should have some fun while you're here. I think we have a new game set up somewhere."

"No thanks," I muttered.

"Eh, suit yourself."

"It might be nice to do something relaxing, right Asch?" Ginji touched my shoulder lightly.

"I don't need to relax," I murmured, catching his eye, and being unable to snap at him as he smiled serenely at me.

Noir gave me a knowing look, "Maybe what you need is something else," and then caught Ginji's eyes. My pilot blinked at her, took his hand off of me, and stared at his feet. I found myself frowning again, perplexed, and glancing between them. Was I missing something? "Well," Noir's speaking brought my attention back to her and off of Ginji's bowed head and pink cheeks, "I'll let you two wander around. I'll come get you once dinner is ready. Do try to have some fun, won't you Asch? For me?" I stared at her, again blank-faced, and she soon turned away from us.

"So," Ginji hesitated to speak to me, and bit his lip, "shall we wander?"

"I guess," I shrugged, sighing and consenting to follow him as we began to walk.

He curiously explored the various stalls, and for a lack of anything better to do, I just watched as he interacted with some of the displays. "There's really no where else you'd like to be?" he questioned, as we headed into another part of Noir's hideout.

"No."

"Not even…" he glanced over his shoulder at me, "you wouldn't want to see Natalia?"

"I'll save this world for her…that's enough." I looked down at my feet and we stopped in our tracks. What would I say to her anyway? I'm dying? There's nothing to say that I hadn't said already. She had Luke to comfort her. Why get her emotional before a final battle? That wouldn't do anyone any good.

"I'm a little surprised," he admitted to me. "I would have thought you'd want to spend…this last night with her. Not stuck here with me," he laughed to himself.

I shrugged. "It makes no difference to me. I usually end up spending the night with you all in some Inn somewhere. I suppose this place is a little better than an Inn."

"Yeah," he nodded, "true."

We started walking again and Ginji headed into another stall. I was still staring at my feet until I heard him let out an exclamation. "What the—" I looked up to see some figure dressed like the Ant Lion Man from the old fairy tales. Ginji was looking at it with almost fearful wide eyes.

It held its hand out for us. "Me want gald."

I rolled my eyes, and Ginji stuttered, "I don't have any, sorry!"

"No gald?"

"Uh, well, I have a little but—"

"Who most important?" It suddenly asked him.

"What? Um," he was flushed in the face again, and glanced back at me, "uh."

"Oh, come on, Ginji," I grabbed his arm and pulled him away from the Ant Lion Man, "that thing is just going to scam you. Let's go."

"R-right." He nodded, biting his lip.

"Don't trust anything here. This is Noir's place after all."

"Shouldn't it be safe then?"

"Just believe me, that thing would have tricked you if you kept talking to it."

"Well, then thanks." He placed a hand on my arm and smiled gratefully at me.

I didn't know how to respond to him. He was always smiling at me. Ginji was shy, but also very friendly, and one of the most genuine people I'd ever met. I was not used to dealing with people like him. "Yeah, sure," I shrugged. "That's why we keep you in the Albiore. So you don't get yourself in trouble."

"Heh, sorry."

We didn't say much to each other after that. Noir soon found us and dragged us off to another hidden room packed full of people and tables. It was a massive buffet for what looked like the entire population of Nam Cobanda Isle.

"Dig in, boys, and no need to be stingy. There's plenty for everyone."

"Thanks," Ginji was expressive enough for the both of us, so I merely nodded at Noir.

After we had plates of food, I located a table in a far corner of the room that felt more isolated from the other inhabitants. Ginji trailed after me, and sat down to eat with me. For some reason, I didn't feel like sending him off to sit with Noir's group. There was something almost calming in his presence. His soft personality was dulling the sharp edges of my own. Sitting in silence next to him, I found myself relaxing a bit and voiding my thoughts on the day to come. I was almost at peace, with the quiet in my head, not thinking anything and only focused on my even breathing.

"Asch?"

"Hm?" My eyes and focus drifted to him.

"It's nice to see you smile."

"Oh," I blinked at him, a little surprised, "I didn't realize I was."

"Exactly," he reached a hand across the table and placed it gently on one of mine.

I started slightly, but didn't move my hand away from his. Sometimes, I didn't understand him. For starters, he was not afraid of me. Noir wasn't either, but she was Noir. When I first met Ginji, he seemed happy, pleased to be helping, and constantly kept positive. No matter what I asked of him, he was always ready to deliver. Never told me he couldn't handle it, or needed personal time. He was so eager to contribute. To risk his life for me the second I asked it of him.

So here we were, two opposites, somehow coexisting and not getting on one another's nerves. And all I could do was stare at him in wonderment. How could he possibly stand me? Why was he willing to go to such lengths for me? I barely even said two words to him, yet he continued to be here for me…why could I depend on him? I'd never been able to depend on anyone before.

I was still staring at him curiously, his cheeks reddening under my scrutiny, and his thumb brushing across my hand when Noir came over to us. Ginji had just opened his mouth, about to speak to me, "Asch, I—" but was interrupted.

"Well boys, how about I show you to a room. You need your rest after all."

"Right," I nodded at her, and then glanced at Ginji briefly, his eyes now downcast, "Ginji?"

"Yeah, we should get some sleep."

"Or get settled in," Noir gave him a look, "I know it's still light out."

"We'll be heading out early," I told them, "and I need him at his best."

"I'm sure you do, darling." Noir bid us follow her with a finger, and continued to share a look with Ginji.

We wound our way through more hidden doorways to another hallway lined with doors. "'Fraid we're rather booked lately, we've taken in quite a few more people as of late. We only have one free room available."

"That's fine." It didn't really matter to me. I was used to us staying in an Inn together, or at the worst sleeping in the Albiore. Comforts weren't much of a concern to me, as I hadn't been a noble for a very long time.

"Alright," Noir opened a door for us, "so no complaining to me now. Night, boys." She winked again at Ginji and sauntered off.

"What would we complain about?" Ginji glanced at me, shrugging before stepping into our room. "Oh," he was suddenly saying a second later, "that's what she meant."

"Oh?" I followed him into the room, closing the door behind me before taking in our surroundings.

"The bathroom looks really nice," he said hesitantly, as if expecting me to start in on the negatives of the room at any moment.

My eyes narrowed. "Okay, what's wrong with it?"

He turned to face me and swallowed, pointing a finger behind him. I peered around him, letting out a sigh an instant later. "You should take it," he suggested, biting his lip, "I mean, you'd need it more than I would."

I continued to stare at the single bed in the room. "No, it's fine, I can take the floor. I've had worse."

His brow furrowed. "Worse than the floor?"

I shrugged, ambivalently. "You should be well rested. There's no doubt you'll need to be able to react to things as quickly as possible tomorrow."

Ginji shook his head, "I'll be fine. You're the one who will be doing the real work. Don't worry, I'll get you in there. But once you're there, you'll have much more to do than I will."

"And I can fight under much worse conditions."

"Can you?"

My eyes narrowed. "Are you questioning my abilities?"

His eyes widened and he shook his head. "No! Of course not. I only meant—"

"What?"

Ginji quieted and all but pouted at me. "I've seen you injured…it's hard to watch you in pain. If I can give you comfort, then I'd like to."

"I'm not worth prioritizing over yourself. I'll be fine. Your job is more important: you need to survive. I don't need you sacrificing anything for me." I didn't want to tell him how pointless our argument was. Especially over something stupid, like which one of us would get the bed. I didn't want to tell him that the reason why I could care less about where I was sleeping was because it wouldn't matter after tomorrow. I knew…I knew this would be my last night alive. My life was forfeit to his. Maybe that would be reason enough for giving me the bed, but I didn't want special treatment.

"We could," he swallowed nervously, "share it? It's not exactly a small bed. I'm sure we could both fit comfortably."

"Sure," I shrugged, "works for me. I don't really care." I only agreed because I had a feeling he would argue with me until I took the bed.

"O-okay."

"I'm going to take a shower." And without a second look at him, I stalked off towards the adjoining bathroom.

Under the warmth of the hot water, I felt an odd sense of relief. This whole ordeal would soon be over with. And once it was, I would finally be able to actually relax…even if that meant through death. Not that I wanted to die, but I was resigned to it. There was no stopping it. So why bother? I was tired of fighting.

I leaned against the tile of the shower wall and ran a hand through my hair, threading the hot water through it as I did so. Something I hadn't wanted to acknowledge consciously, that this would probably be my last night alive, had wound up being the only thing on my mind. I found myself hearing Ginji's voice in my head, questioning me as to why I would spend this last night here with him and not with Natalia. I didn't want to. Perhaps because it would hurt too much, knowing that would be the last time I would see her. But was that really it? I hadn't really seen her in years, or at least, spent any real quality time with her when I had; hadn't tried to. I wasn't that same child that had proposed to her…I was a different person…I wasn't Luke.

Shutting off the water, I sighed to myself and shook the extra droplets from my body. I grabbed one of the spare towels and wrapped it around myself. I allowed the world to fade away while I preformed the almost automatic tasks of getting ready for bed. My mind shut off and I let this become just another night as I went through the motions.

"It's all yours," I said to Ginji, who was now in his pajamas and was doing his utmost to not stare at me while I appeared in only a towel. "Don't worry, I'll put some pants on when you're in there."

"Oh, no," he blushed, "it's not a big deal! I wasn't, um, yeah I'll go use the bathroom." Ginji hopped off the bed and hurried through the door behind me.

"I didn't realize you were actually a spazz," I felt my lips twitch into a smile.

"I'm really not!" he called back. "You…you just make me nervous."

"Do I?" I let my towel drop to my feet and chuckled a little.

"Yeah," I heard him slowly admit from the other room, sounding slightly muffled—most likely from a toothbrush in his mouth.

"Am I that scary?"

There was a sound of spitting into the sink before he responded, "No," then running water followed, "it's not that you're scary."

"Is that so?" I was sitting on the bed in sweat pants, towel-drying my hair when he opened the door and returned to my side, still blushing.

Ginji shook his head. "No, not scary."

"Then what?" To be honest, I was rather curious what he thought of me. He was one of the only people I was close to—well, what was 'close' for me anyway. And I thought, at the very least, that he had some good opinion of me. If he didn't, he wouldn't have been willing to do so much for me. I wasn't exactly paying him.

He sat down next to me, looking shyly embarrassed now. "I admire you. What you're willing to do. The lengths you go to. Just being able to help you," he laughed lightly, "save the world, it's kind of a big deal. You're amazing, Asch."

"This is my duty," I shrugged, doing my best not to get too embarrassed myself by his praise.

"But it's not," he placed a hand on my leg, and looked into my eyes in earnestness.

I glanced down to his hand, and then back up at him, wondering why I'd felt a strange nervousness for a second when he had touched me. "It is, Lorelei—"

"You could have left it to Luke," I snorted at the sound of my old name and rolled my eyes. "Really, you didn't have to put this on your shoulders."

"No—"

"Asch," he leaned in closer to me and I blinked at him, startled by his invading my personal space. But I didn't move away from him. For some reason, I was curious to know what he was going to do next.

"Yes?" I let out a breath, starting to feel a flash of nervousness again.

"You're amazing," he repeated himself, his face still flushed and his lips ever so slightly parted. Ginji continued to lean in towards me, the hand against my thigh was almost reflexively gripping my pants now. "Asch, I…"

"Ginji?" I swallowed unconsciously, my eyes widening as his gazed intently into mine.

"I'm…" my pulse had started to quicken while he drew his words out, "in love…" there was a flutter in my chest, and my mouth opened to let out a breath, "with you," he finished.

I felt my cheeks begin to redden as we stared at one another in silence. A part of me wanted to kick myself for losing my composure. But mostly, I had no idea how I was supposed to respond to what he'd said. My body seemed to be reacting out of my control. What I should have done, was tell him he was out of his mind and that he should forget about it right now. It wasn't that I was disgusted—to be honest, I was merely surprised, taken aback, and unsure what to do…and anxious. Maybe confusedly flattered. I wanted to tell him not to bother, because I didn't want him to hurt when I was gone. I was almost on the verge of telling him as much when he suddenly decided to stop our staring contest.

With one lightning quick movement, Ginji had pressed his free hand to the back of my neck, and closed the gap between us. His eyelids fluttered shut as his lips captured mine. My eyes widened even more, and I tensed. Ginji didn't try to take it any further than that though. Our lips stayed pressed together and unmoving. His hand was still against the back of my neck, with a firmness that I wouldn't have expected to come from him. And all of a sudden, I sighed, my shoulders dropping and the tension inexplicably ebbing away. A fever was coloring my cheeks once more. Ginji must have sensed, or probably had felt, this change come over me. His mouth began to move against mine, my heart beating furiously as I started to return the kiss. Oddly, I noticed myself relaxing even more with him. For the first time in a long time, I felt a sense of safety; like I was secure in his hold. That feeling alone was foreign to me. Almost as foreign as the other feelings he was bringing out of me.

My first kiss, and we had yet to break apart. I'd never so much as thought about what it would've been like. I didn't have time for such thoughts until now…until it was happening to me. Much to my great surprise, I found that I liked it. I was soon letting Ginji into my mouth, gripping the back of his loose t-shirt with a hand, and letting out an uncontrollable whine. We broke apart, at first to my displeasure, until he placed his lips against my neck and continued to kiss and nip at it. I let my head fall back. "Ginji," I said his name with a sigh. It briefly crossed my mind to wonder why I was allowing him to affect me like this, in a way no one else had before, and in a way I'd never wanted from anyone. He was in love with me? Seemed a good enough reason to me…

The hand against my leg had begun to slowly move up my thigh, and trail up my bare chest, only to stop over my racing heart. I couldn't get it off my mind, as he placed kisses against the side of my face, that Ginji cared for me—loved me apparently—and I knew I could trust him. Trust him with my life even. I had been for a while now. He was one of the few people I depended on. Surely that could explain why I felt I could place myself in his hands.

"Asch," he was murmuring my name, and for once I could hear the longing, the desperation, in his voice. He wanted me…just me, and for me—as a person, and not a weapon to be used. Ginji didn't care if I was special. I was special because he cared. And for the first time, I actually felt special, lighthearted, and not angry because of it.

Ginji was getting impossibly closer to me. Kissing my lips again, and opening his own mouth to my hesitant tongue. I had no idea what I was doing, but it felt right. "Asch?" he broke away from me, catching my eyes and causing my nerves to kick in again. "Do you, um," he bit his lip, "do you possibly…care for me too?"

"Uh," I didn't know what to say to him. Did I think so little of myself that I'd just let someone have free reign over my body? No. Most certainly not. I was not as pathetic as that damn replica. And I'm sure not just anyone could elicit such reactions from me. At least, I would hope not. That would have to mean I was okay with it being him bringing this out of me…making me feel…making me want things I'd never wanted before.

His face seemed to fall when I hadn't responded, and he cast his eyes downwards, unable to look at me. "It's fine if you don't. I'd understand. It's—"

"I care."

Ginji snapped his head back up to stare into my eyes. "You do?"

"I…yes." I cleared my throat, suddenly uncomfortable on the spot. "I don't really know what I mean by that, or what it means to care. But I know I do. So I apologize if that's not enough-" He cut me off with a kiss.

"It's more than I ever expected," he beamed at me. This time, I smiled back at him.

We continued to just stare at one another. There was a hesitancy between us now as his stopping our movement to speak had halted our action. I think we were both wondering: what now? Do we leave it here? Open something up and not explore it further? I didn't have the time left to develop something with him, not that he knew that. Was it fair to him to imply a promise of being able to give him more when I couldn't? And I couldn't afford to have something left hanging between us occupying my mind tomorrow. Whatever could potentially be with Ginji and I, it had to be now. Now was all we had. "I don't exactly know what we're doing, Ginji," I admitted to him. "I've never-"

"It's okay," he took one of my hands in his, gripping it tightly. "I'm not asking for anything, or expecting-"

I all but lunged towards him, unable to control my selfish desire to not let it end where it had. That was the only way I could think of to stop his talking—by taking matters into my own hands, or lips as the case may have been. Desperately, I pressed myself against him, clutching him to me as I did so. I let him lead our movement like before. Ginji felt safe, comforting. Having someone else in control was a relief. I sighed against his lips, giving into the movement. I let myself fall back onto the sheets when he began to lean closer towards me, applying just enough pressure on my body to lead my down to the bed.

Logically, I understood what had to happen for two men to…give into love completely, which meant one of us was going to have to allow the other to…

I closed my eyes, and wrapped my arms around Ginji. His weight resting on top of me was making me feverish. His teeth now finding the flesh of my neck had me gasping. And the knee he was slipping between my legs brought a moan to my lips. "Ginji," I heard myself begging suddenly.

"Asch?" Our eyes found one another's again, as mine flickered open at the sound of my name. "We can stop," he took in a few breaths before he continued, "whenever you want."

We were both breathing heavily and pressing our bodies as close as they could get with our clothes in the way. He clearly wanted more, and I was not oblivious to my own desires. This was my last chance at…any form of love before I disappeared from this life. "Shut up, Ginji," I told him before lifting my head to initiate another kiss. This time, I thrust my tongue into his mouth, my fingers clutching the back of his shirt as I did so. I'd made my decision. I was already being selfish by allowing myself this one night with him—I wanted him to have me. If I'd had more time left, I probably wouldn't have been so eager to give myself to him, and would have insisted it be the other way around. But given the circumstances, I knew this was the only right way to do it. Not that there was a right way, considering I would just be hurting him in the long run when he found out I wasn't coming back from Eldrant.

The heat and friction between us had exponentially increased over the last few minutes. I started to claw at his shirt until we had pulled it over his head and tossed it to the floor. Neither one of us hesitated to continue undressing him, and in the blink of an eye he was bare before me. I wasted no time and quickly removed my last article of clothing as well.

Our eyes locked again. Mine most likely questioning his on what to do next. He touched the side of my face with a tentative hand, tenderly caressing it, all the while smiling lovingly at me. "You wouldn't happen to have an apple gel, would you?" he asked.

I nodded, "Yeah, I have a few with my things. Should I get one?"

"Um, a couple maybe. Just in case." Ginji sat back on the bed, biting his lip. I got up and paced over to my belongings, crouching down as I rummaged through them. I could feel his eyes on my back. "I'm sorry, Asch. It's just probably going to …hurt a little."

"For the pain?" I cocked my head to the side, giving him a curious look, when I handed the gels over to him.

"In a way," he looked at me sheepishly as I lied down again. Ginji hovered over me, gazing into my eyes. "It's going to make it easier for…us…to be together."

I nodded, not totally understanding him. "Alright."

Ginji kissed me again, distracting me from his knees slipping between my legs and nudging them apart. I tried not to think about what he was doing, my cheeks were flushing with nervous embarrassment. It had only just now dawned on me how exposed I was to him. "Don't worry," Ginji kissed my ear after he had whispered in it. "It'll be okay. You can still say no, Asch."

I swallowed, "No; I'll say no to saying no."

Ginji grinned. "Alright. And…please, try to relax…this is going to probably feel a little strange." I almost rolled my eyes. Obviously. It was to be expected that this would feel unlike anything I had experienced before.

And that was when I felt something…odd. My eyes widened and I tensed from the shock. A part of Ginji I hadn't expected to join with me suddenly had. Along with something else…was that the apple gel I was feeling?  
"Please, relax Asch," Ginji begged in a murmur. "I'm sorry, it's really for the best. Trust me?"

I gritted my teeth and closed my eyes. "I do trust you," I said between clenched teeth.

And then Ginji was at my lips, again distracting me as his tongue penetrated my mouth. I moaned into it and began to forget what was going on. That was, until Ginji was suddenly pressing himself against me even more closely. His lips left mine to administer kisses against my hair and temples, whispering my name aloud over my gasping. I pushed the back of my head down against my pillow and bit my lip, trying to hold in the discomfort.

"You…okay?"

"Mhm," I cringed at the pain.

"Hold on, it'll be okay."

I nodded, but dug my nails into the flesh on his back.

"Oh…" I suddenly heard Ginji saying, as the fog of pain that had been clouding my senses began to slowly ebb. "Asch," he sighed in pleasure.

I blinked my eyes rapidly, noticing my body was seemingly moving with his now. My eyes widened again. For the first time, I had truly felt him inside me, and not just the pain. My head fell back against the pillow again and I let out a breath, "Ginji," then an involuntary whine. Lorelei…he was starting to feel…rather amazing.

In no time, we were moaning together and I couldn't get enough of him. "Ginji," I clutched him closer to me. I didn't want this to end. I wanted the world to just be this. This moment. The two of us as one, forever. All that was running through my thoughts were three words: stay with me. And they played over and over in my head. Stay with me…stay with me…stay with me…

And when the two of us had become overwhelmed, crying out each other's names and seeing stars, I think we both had tears in our eyes. We continued to lie there, chests pressed together and panting, not speaking, for a while. Neither of us wanted to break the spell. And so, we fell asleep like that—in each other's arms.

…

The next morning, only really a few hours after we had closed our eyes, came far too quickly. We got up and dressed in silence. There was no time to stop and speak about what had happened. The small smiles and occasional brushing of our hands was all we could allow ourselves.

I held my tongue during the breakfast Noir forced on us, and was unable to even growl a goodbye to the Dark Wings before Ginji and I boarded the Albiore. They didn't pester me about my silence, which I was eternally grateful for.

This was it. All too soon. Ginji was making his way towards Eldrant. He wore a determined smile on his lips, and I wished I could bring myself to say something…anything. But I couldn't. This welling up in my chest, this tight constricting feeling, I knew what it was. My holding back an overwhelming emotion I didn't have the luxury of letting myself feel. I couldn't. If I did, I'd have lost it right there. I'd have broken down in tears and confessed myself to Ginji. I'd have had to admit to myself that maybe I was scared and wasn't ready yet. I didn't want to die.

As if reading my thoughts, Ginji suddenly was speaking to me, bringing me out of my thoughts. "Okay, Asch, this isn't getting us anywhere."

"What?" I blinked, starlted.

"I mean, there are no openings here. I'm going to have to make a break for one. So, if you're okay with taking some risk-"

"Do what you have to do."

He nodded. "Okay. Better hold on. This won't be smooth sailing."

"It's your show." I double checked my seat belt and clutched the arm rests of my seat. "You show them how it's done, Ginji."

I saw what could have been a smirk form on his lips. "Yes sir, Mister Asch."

The next thing I knew, we had crashed into Eldrant. I must have lost consciousness at some point, because I was suddenly rather disoriented and was having trouble recalling how we had landed. Clumsily, I managed to remove my restraints and stumbled out of my seat. I looked around, trying to locate Ginji. It was a few moments before I realized Ginji was still in the pilot's seat, unconscious and looked to be bleeding from somewhere on his head.

"Shit," I tripped over something to get to him, before ripping his seatbelts off of him. "Ginji," I shook his shoulders, "Ginji, come on. It wasn't supposed to be you. Come on!"

"Ah…" He blearily opened an eye. "Asch? Ugh," he winced and pressed a hand to his head. "Ow, that stings."

"Damn it," I muttered, "you're insane. You're lucky to be alive."

Cringing, he looked up at me with one eye open. "Yeah, probably. But we're in."

I snorted, "Looks like it."

"So I did my job," he sighed in relief. "Now you go do yours, Asch." Ginji managed a weak smile for me.

"Let's get you out of this useless thing first." I helped him up and out of the Albiore. "You're going to stay put right here." He sat down on the ground nodding up at me. I sighed. "At least the others should be in here soon. Then your sister can get you out."

"Asch," Ginji reached a hand up to grasp one of mine. I looked down at our joined hands, and then at his expectant face. "Promise me something?"

I sighed. "What?"

"That you'll come back to me. That you'll survive this. That I'm going to see you again."

I closed my eyes and turned my head away from him, pained. That was the one thing I couldn't do. "Yeah." I returned my gaze to his. "I promise." He smiled in relief and closed his eyes, leaning back against what was left of the Albiore. If lying to him about this one thing would be enough to keep him going until he got out of here, I had to do it. "I have to go now. Already wasted too much time."

"Sorry," he murmured.

"Don't be. I'm not." I pulled my hand away from his and swiftly turned on heel. I couldn't bring myself to look back at him. This was it. This…was my end.

_Ginji_

…my life energy slipped away from me…

_Ginji_

..a warmth enveloped me completely…

_Ginji_

…my body was becoming a mass of light, and something seemed to flood into me…

_Ginji_

…a distant voice was calling to me, and I could hear singing. Tear…

_Ginji_

My eyes opened to the dark of night, music still in my ears. My heart beat. My feet took slow steps on the grass in front of me. Somehow, I was alive. I kept moving forward in a daze, unsure of whether I was real or not. And that was when I saw them: Luke's friends.

Tear was throwing her arms around me. I was barely able to register what she was saying, in my state. But I managed a smile, feeling a surge of gratitude towards her. They all looked at me in awe, wondering for themselves how I was here.

"I promised someone I'd come back," I explained simply.

_Ginji_

The End


End file.
